The Unholy Biblical
Subtexts and Other Religious Elements Built into Superman: The
Movie (1978) and Superman II (1981)

The
Unholy Biblical Subtexts and Other Religious Elements Built into Superman:
The Movie (1978) and Superman II (1981)

by Anton
Karl Kozlovic
School of HumanitiesThe Flinders
University of South Australia

Abstract

The sacred-secular parallels between Jesus Christ and Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
in Superman: The Movie (1978) and Superman II (1981) were
explicated previously in the JR&F.1
This research was followed by the identification of additional holy,
but non-christic subtexts built into the films to complement Superman
as a Christ-figure.2 However, the sacred-secular parallels did not stop there. In
addition to this persuasive array of positive holy figurations, complementary
unholy religious subtexts were also built into the films. They
were designed to counterpoint the alien Messiah and his positive pals,
plus accentuate the evilness of the unholy Kryptonian triumvirate and
their disreputable earthly associates. These screen villains and their
biblical correlates were identified and explicated herein. Also canvassed
was a potpourri of other religious elements engineered within the films
for potential sacred effect. They revealed an even greater degree of
subtextual religious saturation than previously realised. It was concluded
that the first two Superman movies are profoundly religious and a pop
culture site par excellence for contemporary theological discourse.
Further research into this exciting interdisciplinary field was recommended.

Introduction

[1]
Previously within The Journal of Religion and Film, Anton Karl
Kozlovic3explicated the sacred-secular parallels between Jesus Christ
and Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman in Superman: The Movie (aka Superman
hereafter S1) andits partial back-to-back sequel Superman
II (hereafter S2).4 Kozlovic subsequently explicated the holy, but non-christic
biblical subtexts that were also crafted in these two classic SF films.5 These religious subtexts were designed to accentuate the alien
Messiah and his positive pals. However, despite these persuasive holy
subtexts and their numerous New Testament (NT) associations, the extent
of the Bible-film parallels within S1 and S2 did not stop
with holy religious figurations. Additional unholy biblical correspondences
were also deliberately crafted into the films to dramatically counterpoint
Superman as a Christ-figure, and accentuate the evilness of the Kryptonian
triumvirate and their disreputable earthly associates. Indeed, many
other elements were also engineered into the Superman films for both
potential sacred effect and subtextual religious saturation reasons.
The religious themes explicated within broadly pertained to: (a) Unholy
Foes: The Opposers of God, Man and Superman, (b) Unholy Collaborators:
The Evil Earthly Enemies, and (c) A Religious Potpourri: Other Significant
Biblical Associations.

1.0 Unholy Foes: The Opposers of God, Man and Superman

[2]
Just as it is impossible to have only one side of a coin, it is impossible
to value warriors of the light without contrasting them with their theological-cum-dramaturgical
nemeses, the forces of darkness. The needs of S1 and S2
were no different and they were attended to with as much care as the
crafting of Superman as an alien Messiah.

1.1 An Unholy Alien Triumvirate

[3]
Biblically speaking, Jesus Christ had enemies, in particular, three
unclean spirits to deal with, namely, "the dragon ... the beast, and ... the
false prophet" (Rev. 16:13).6
Similarly, both Jor-El (Marlon Brando) and Superman (Christopher Reeve)
had an unholy trinity of celestial enemies to contend with. In S1,
Jor-El (and later his son Superman in S2) had the three imprisoned
Kryptonian political subversives to attend to, namely, Ursa (Sarah Douglas),
Non (Jack O'Halloran) and General Zod (Terence Stamp). In S2,
Lara (Susannah York), Superman's biological mother, was presented as
the keeper of the archives of Krypton and she characterised these unholy
three as having "evil nature, evil ways," and thereby indirectly suggesting
that superior technology does not necessarily mean superior ethics.
More comically, while on Earth, the red-neck country sheriff (Clifton
James) said to his less sophisticated deputy (Peter Whitman) that the
three on-the-loose aliens were hippies from Los Angeles (no doubt, unwholesomeness
of another sort compared to small town values)! This unholy Kryptonian
triumvirate was appropriately dressed in full black (on a white planet
under a white beam) to signal their "bad guy" status in the best iconic
traditions of Hollywood. During their formal trial, it was revealed
that they had tried to overthrow their own government and institute
a new social order on Krypton, but they failed and were subsequently
captured, tried, sentenced and punished for their sedition.

[4]
For their political (and other) crimes, they were not killed, rather,
they were socially ostracised by being literally cast out from their
society "for eternity" into an undesirable liminal realm called the
"Phantom Zone" (discovered by Jor-El, Krypton's chief scientist). Jor-El,
as the foremost member of the ruling council, had to fulfil his law-and-order
duty, and so he cast the final vote during their trail, thus sealing
their doomed fate. In return, Jor-El (and his heirs) were immediately
threatened by the prisoners, and an unholy vow was taken to do so again
in the future. This passionate threat was eventually carried out in
S2 when the evil three escaped their celestial confinement and
subsequently attacked Superman. During S2, this specific plot
point was verbally linked back to the S1 trial scene when General
Zod proclaimed: "We shall kill the son of our jailer!" (i.e., Superman/Kal-El/Clark
Kent, the son of Jor-El), or analogously speaking, Satan was trying
to kill Jesus, the son of God.

1.2 Satan Cast Out from Heaven Towards Eden

[5]
The triumvirate's banishment from Krypton into the Phantom Zone, and
then to Earth was similar to the biblical fate of the would-be heavenly
usurper, Satan. Scripturally speaking, Satan (aka the great dragon,
old serpent, the Devil, Lucifer - Rev. 12:9; Isa. 14:12) tried to challenge
God's divine order and so he precipitated a war in heaven (Rev. 12:7).
This was triggered by his pride and a desire to lord it over all of
them (Isa. 14:13-14). Satan and his defeated evil angels were not killed,
rather, they were socially ostracised by being cast out of heaven (Rev.
12:9). This eviction was done as quick as lightning (Luke 10:18), and
later Satan was relegated to roaming the earthly realm like a roaring
lion reeking havoc (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan and his evil coworkers worked
miracles and confronted "the kings of the earth and of the whole world,
to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Rev.
16:14). This biblical battle was subtextually re-enacted in S2
between the three Kryptonian subversives and Superman. Symbolically
speaking, it was that ancient conflict between good and evil played
out on the screen one more time.

[6]
Interestingly, the director of S2 was Richard Lester whom Peter
Tonguette considered had "an obsession with questioning authority"7
that also thematically jibed with the evil triumvirate as the stars
of his Superman film. This personalistic trait was especially significant
considering that Tonguette considered that Richard Donner, the director
of S1, was "essentially reverential and respectful towards the
subject"8
and which thematically jibed with Superman as the star of his Superman
film. (However, to suggest that Richard Lester was "bad" and Richard
Donner was "good" would be stretching this point too far).

[7]
In S1, the unholy trio were expelled from their Kryptonian "heaven"
into the starry heavens above via a rotating, two-dimensional, roaming,
cosmic prison. Some film critics considered this alien device to be
"a fragment of kryptonite,"9or "a sort of super-silicon chip,"10or "a bizarre time-warp."11Nevertheless, this interstellar jail was a quick acting device
of light that descended from the heavens, captured the prisoners, then
cast the trio of trouble into the dark void of outerspace. In S2,
the three prisoners eventually landed on Earth and reeked havoc in a
capricious fashion, thus turning America into the equivalent of "a despoiled
Eden."12
Nor was it without iconographic significance that the first "alien"
life-form that the evil trio met on a paradisiacal Earth was a snake.
Ursa warmly greeted the snake until it bit her and she retaliated by
warming it up into a flame-bursting death. These idyllic scenes were
a resonate throwback to Eve in the garden of Eden and her encounter
with another beautiful but nasty serpent (Gen. 3:1).

1.3 Satan Defeated and Cast into the Pit

[8]
Scripturally speaking, at the end of Satan's dastardly reign on Earth,
he was to "be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" (Isa. 14:15).
Similarly, in S2, General Zod along with Non and Ursa are cosmically
castrated by the externalised radiation chamber inside the Fortress
of Solitude (Superman's Artic retreat). The evil three are then physically
subdued before they can realise their complete domination of the world.
Very significantly, the now cunningly depowered General Zod was quickly
defeated and lifted up, swing-bowing before Superman his conqueror.
At Superman's instigation, Zod then violently disappeared into a deep,
murky, pit-like crevasse not to be seen again, followed soon after by
his evil coworkers Ursa and Non. Their on-screen fate prophetically
resonated with Proverbs 14:19: "The evil bow before the good: and the
wicked at the gates of the righteous." Their conquered fate also resonated
with the on-screen street-walker's prophetic sign which had earlier
proclaimed: "Prepare to Meet Thy Doom. The End of the World is Nigh."
At least for Zod, Ursa and Non, this was an accurate prediction for
we never see them again in the film or in either of the sequels, Superman
III or Superman IV: The Quest for Peace!

1.4 General Zod as an Evil False Prophet

[9]
In S1, General Zod was a former trusted defender of Krypton employed
by the ruling council. However, he subsequently suffered a God-complex
and wanted to be Krypton's absolute ruler and have people bow down before
him. General Zod was directly compared to the evil one because, like
"Satan, Zod originally held a high position of trust in Paradise, but
his overweaning ambition and pride lead him to sedition. He is found
out in his treason, and cast out of Krypton along with the other angels,
Ursa and Non, whom he incited to rebel."13
Indeed, the first early scenes in S1 "involves the "eternal judgment" ... This
itself may be a kind of parallel to the fall and banishment of Satan
before the creation."14
The conflict between Jor-El and the other council members can be seen
as another biblical war in heaven, followed by the break up of Krypton
with its harrowing images of falling bodies. This scene was itself highly
reminiscent of Hans Memling's falling bodies in his painting The
Last Judgement, a fine arts depiction of another catastrophic end
time scenario.15

[10]
This evil theme was advanced further in S2 where General Zod
was described on-screen as a "son-of-a-bitch" by the county Sheriff
and then this assessment was reified off-screen when a film critic perceived
Zod as a "power-crazed evil incarnate."16
Another film commentator claimed that Zod represented "the Nietzschean
side of the Superman potential."17Indeed, this Nietzschean link was also musically forged in an
"imaginative stroke by arranger Ken Thorne at the beginning [of the film
when he] inverts one of John Williams' musical motifs and turns it into
a direct quote from Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathrustra."
"18

[11]
In S2, Zod eventually succeeded in getting his megalomaniac power
wish. Not only was he ruler of a whole planet (Earth), but the U.S.
President (E. G. Marshall) eventually knelt before him as an act of
coerced submission. General Zod also attempted "to force Superman to
kneel before him, just as Satan strives to make Jesus kneel before him
in Matthew 4.9,"19
and he even succeeded in that endeavour for a brief moment, but with
unexpected disastrous consequences (i.e., pain and defeat). Evil is
defined here as a violation of societal rules, brutal domination and
an uncaring disposition. S1 and S2 also hint at three
sorts of bizarre behaviours, namely: (a) intrapsychic megalomania (represented
by General Zod), (b) child-hating perversity (represented by Ursa),
even more "unnatural" in a woman due to their iconic associations with
birth, nurturing and bonded infant love, and (c) genetic/mental abnormality
(represented by Non). The planetary dimension of their combined evil
was also symbolically indicated on-screen. This occurred when Non tossed
aside the crumpled US and Soviet flags belonging to the now-destroyed
international lunar expedition. Superman's equivalent earthly enemy
to General Zod was the lying genius Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), another
megalomaniac with big ideas and extremely destructive impulses.

1.5 General Zod as the Anti-Christ

[12]
General Zod was deliberately portrayed as an anti-Christ-figure in S2.
He was defined as this by virtue of him being: (a) opposed to Superman
(as a Christ-figure), (b) being opposed to Jor-El (as a God-figure),
and (c) by being against the spirit of goodness and truth (aka 1 John
4:3; 2 John 7). Zod also displayed many anti-Christ-like behaviours.
For example, when he and his two evil cohorts landed on an Edenic Earth
for the first time, Zod floated down from the heavens into a stream,
just breaking the surface of the water before promptly rising up again
and then confidently walking on water to get to the nearby shore. Thus
General Zod had paralleled Jesus who also walked on water (Matt. 14:25-26).
Indeed, film critic Neil Sinyard20
considered General Zod's water-walking feat to be an act of "impudent
blasphemy" that along with the unholy trio's other acts undermined "Superman's
status as deity." It also emphasised "the godlessness of our universe,"
especially considering S1's death-of-God scene when Jor-El (as
God-figure and Superman's father and Holy Father) was killed when Krypton
was destroyed.

[13]
Apparently, both S1 and S2 were suggesting that Nietzsche
was right, God is dead (even if his influence lives on), which is given
more resonant force when coupled with John the Divine's claim that Jesus
Christ was "the first begotten of the dead" (Rev. 1:5). After all, Superman
was the first born of the now dead Jor-El, and baby Kal-El (an infant
Jesus-figure in his celestial starship-manger) was the first one to
leave the dying planet Krypton, and was thus the first alien immigrant
to safely make it to Earth. When Lex Luthor's alpha-wave sensing device
in S2 detected the unholy trio, it reinforced the blasphemous
Lord theme again (aka Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13), for his machine could
only detect Kryptonians who were the current Lords of the earthly universe.

[14]
General Zod was also filmicly stamped as a negative Jesus through his
eye colour in S1. Superman as a Christ-figure had blue eyes (as
did Jor-El as a God-figure) that even Jewish commentators acknowledged
in Superman's comic book incarnation. For example, Scott Raab facetiously
called Superman: "Mr. Krypton, Mr. Blue Eyes, Mr. Square Jaw."
21 Within the Christian tradition, the colour blue
is symbolic of "the heavenly origins of Christ (as the sky is blue)."22 Therefore, the blue eyes of the black clad General Zod visually
supported his anti-Christ status, especially compared to his two evil
partners, Ursa and Non, both of whom had brown eyes. Extreme close up
shots of all three sets of unholy eyes during the Krypton judgment scene
allowed for this degree of certainty, coupled with other eye symbolism
implications (see section 3.1)

[15]
The theme of General Zod's anti-Christ nature was also repeated in S2
when he and his evil cohorts confronted the two police officers on the
country back-road. Particularly, when deputy Dwayne spontaneously yelled
out "Jesus H. Christ" when Zod inadvertently shot himself with the deputy's
own rifle, but Zod suffered no ill effects whatsoever. In fact, Christ
related exclamations around or about Christ-figures (and anti-Christ
figures) is a common Hollywood ploy. General Zod's bullet-proof nature
also physically signalled Zod's negative deity status and thus put him
into the class of what Subbulakshmi Ganapathy called "God-men."23 Later, Ursa assertively purloined the deputy's police badge
(itself symbolic of congealed power) and used it as a personal symbol
of the new power and law on Earth -- an evil cosmic dictatorship by
ones who wore (and were) all black. The General Zod-divinity associations
were later comically recalled when the defeated U.S. President capitulated
and knelt before Zod muttering "Oh God" only to be linguistically corrected
from "God" to "Zod" by the egotistical General. Lex Luthor also exhibited
this subservient streak by referring to General Zod with such magisterial
designations as "magnificent one" and "your grace."

1.6 Ursa the Perverse Dragon

[16]
The evil, perverted, child-hating Ursa was a dragon lady that dressed
like "a leather-clad dominatrix"24
and found delight in Earth serpents in S2. One wonders about
her child-hating reputation that was dutifully acknowledged by the Kryptonian
high council. Could she have been barren like the biblical Sarah (Gen.
11:30; 18:10-15; 21:1-2), and was this the root source of her rage (and
the negative, alien correlate to the good, earthly Martha Kent, Superman's
barren but blessed foster mother)? Superman's equivalent earthly female
enemy was the seductive, dumb mistress, Miss Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine).
She had no children or any motherly associations, which was reinforced
when she was repeatedly referred to as "MISS Teschmacher" (i.e., the
title designation of an unmarried woman or girl). Her brand of perversity
was more of the mundane bad-girl kind, rather than twisted internal
psychology like Ursa.

1.7 Non the Murdering, Mindless Beast

[17]
In S2, before being captured, the hugely built Non is shown killing
a white-clad Kryptonian guard (reminiscent of a cross between an imperial
trooper from Star Wars and a rocketman as lovingly recreated
in The Rocketeer). Non is continually portrayed as a bumbling,
mindless aberration of "pure dumb brute strength."25 As the mute, beastlike sidekick of General Zod, the Kryptonian
high council claimed that he was "without thought." Lex Luthor called
him "a clod" in S2, while his evil Kryptonian cohorts quietly
and repeatedly despaired over his incapacities. Not only did Non display
weak eye-ray powers compared to his evil peers (and itself a visual
index of his lower brain power), but when he bashed his way through
the walls of the Daily Planet building, Luthor complained: "When
will these dummies learn to use the doorknob?"

[18]
Throughout S1 and S2, Non demonstrated his ineptitude, destructiveness
and animal nature via beast-like growls, cries and other
emotive sound effects (i.e., not conversation, erudite or otherwise).
His unnecessary destruction of the moon spacecraft following his release
from the Phantom Zone prison, plus his Daily Planet rampage leaves
little doubt about his animal brutishness. Even his name eponomously
described him, for "Non" literally means: "negation ... failure ... lack
or absence."26
Superman's earthly Non equivalent was the dumb sidekick and atrociously
ineffectual Otis (Ned Beatty), another failed being who was co-opted
by evil forces.

2.0 Unholy Collaborators: The Evil Earthly Enemies

[19]
In both S1 and S2, the filmmakers mirrored the unholy
Kryptonian foes with disreputable earthly associates who acted as collaborators,
in short, they were constructed as "Evil lite."

2.1 An Unholy Earthly Triumvirate

[20]
The unholy trio of Kryptonian evil was matched by an earthly trio of
evil. This time the violation of American societal rules was being perpetrated
by the megalomaniac Lex Luthor (paralleling General Zod), the childless,
seductive Miss Teschmacher (paralleling Ursa), and the psychologically
challenged Otis (paralleling Non). At the end of S2, Superman
pridefully delivered Luthor and his dimwitted henchman Otis to prison
and justice, just like Jesus: "And having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col.
2:15). In particular, Luthor was a self-boasting genius whom Superman
made to look foolish, just as "God made foolish the wisdom of this world"
(1 Cor. 1:20).

2.2 Lex Luthor as the Personification of Earthly Evil

[21]
Superman's main earthly enemy was the megalomaniac Lex Luthor. This
nemesis was a master criminal with a name that suggested many negative
interpretations. For example, "Lex" means "law; rule; standard, norm,"27 thereby implying "the Law of Luther - ie: justification by faith
and not deeds."28
His surname "implies both Lucifer and Luther: Lucifer is God's rebellious
angel who establishes a dominion of his own in another subterranean
region and Luther as rebel against the established church who founds
a religion of his own."29 Indeed, "Luther represents man's egotism, his pride in his own
capabilities, especially his reason. (Luthor's name even points towards
such an interpretation, being so close to Martin Luther and thus
symbolizing - to Catholics, at least - man's pride in himself and his renunciation
of the True Church)."30

[22]
Whatever Lex Luthor was, he was certainly egocentric. He acted like
a mini-king and lived 200 feet underground in an abandoned railway station.
This was an appropriate subterranean lair for an evil one because beneath
the Earth is the traditional location of the Devil's domain (and one
of the most famous of metaphysical properties in human history). Luthor's
lair was only accessible by descending (physically, spiritually and
metaphorically) that involved tramping through train tunnels, which
itself symbolically resonated with the proverbial "road to Hell." As
Gene Hackman described his role: "Lex is so devious, he sometimes double-crosses
himself...just for the practice. He lives under the city of Metropolis
because he's too cheap to invest in above-ground property."31 Nor does Luthor's land-grabbing megalomania stop there, for
in S2, he wanted to be the King of Australia, the largest island
(or smallest continent) on Earth.

[23]
Despite his repeated self-boastings about his genius, Luthor's personalistic
defects are dramatically indicated in S2. He kept serving the
evil Kryptonian triumvirate even though they repeatedly ordered him
neutralised when his immediate usefulness was at an end. Alternatively,
he is so attracted to evil that he cannot live without it, despite its
inherent dangers and potentially unsavoury consequences for him (and
itself indicative of unwholesome obsession). Evil by its very nature
is also deceptive. So, near films end, it was not too surprising to
find Luthor dramatically removing his wig to reveal his signature bald
head of Superman comic book fame. (Early hints of his iconic baldness
occurred when Otis found many wigs in Luthor's bedroom, and when Luthor's
hairstyles kept changing throughout the film). Lex's woolly wigs and
deceptive behaviour metaphorically resonated with Jesus' warning against
false prophets who were like ravening wolves in sheep's clothing (Matt.
7:15). And like wolves, Luthor was also a predator.

2.3 Miss Eve Teschmacher as the Mother of Harlots

[24] As
an iconic sinner in S1, Miss Eve Teschmacher dressed in black
with exposed fleshy breasts and tight pants. At one point, she is smoking
a cigarette in a long-stemmed holder in the stereotypic salacious prostitute
pose. Later, she dressed in a grey outfit wearing pearl earrings and
necklace, the body jewellery favoured by the biblical whore of Babylon,
the Mother of Harlots (Rev. 17:4-5). Interestingly, in real-life, Valerie
Perrine was a nude Playboy centrefold which would have enhanced
her erotic performance for the knowing viewer.32
Later, after being slowly redeemed by the knowledge and heroic reports
of Superman, especially when physically saving him from drowning, she
later wore plain, unsexual, unprovocative white clothing, the symbol
of purity and chastity.

[25] However,
in S2, she reverted to her bad old ways as a "dumb but compassionate
moll"33
when she helped Luthor escape prison. Recidivism being a common feature
of the truly bad. While travelling North on a sled through the snow
with Luthor, Miss Teschmacher is wearing a brilliant red coloured fur/wool-lined
coat (instead of white as you might expect in the Artic conditions),
just like the scarlet colour favoured by the Mother of Harlots (Rev.
17:4). Indeed, biblically speaking, red (whether as scarlet or crimson)
is also used to symbolise sin (Isa. 1:18) and at other times to represent
evil (Rev. 12:3), especially in the form of a "great red dragon" (which
also resonated with Ursa the dragon lady, Miss Teschmacher's Kryptonian
equivalent).

[26] Interestingly,
S2's use of the colour red, fur/wool and white snow matched the
same elements used in the Lord's argument in Isaiah 1:18, namely: "saith
the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." The colour
red also had other symbolic resonances for Superman. It was the red
sun of Krypton that was the embracer and destroyer of Superman's home
planet and the subsequent weakener of the Earth-bound Superman himself.
Likewise, a scarlet harlot can embrace, weaken and destroy one's virtuous
reputation. Red thus signals much more than just physical danger, human
blood or war.

2.4 Miss Eve Teschmacher as Mary Magdalene

[27] The
first person to witness Jesus' post-crucifixion rebirth and divine empowerment
was Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; John 20:1-18), who was redeemed by Jesus
when he cast out seven devils (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2). She is traditionally
seen as a sexual sinner (Luke 7:37) who was transformed into a penitent
prostitute-cum-holy woman. Similarly, in S1, the first person
to witness Superman's symbolic "rebirth" from Luthor's drowning pool
was Miss Eve Teschmacher, Lex Luthor's soft-hearted, sexy paramour.
In a reversal of Jesus' "Touch me not" incident (John 20:17), but resonating
with the sinner woman who kissed Jesus' feet (Luke 7:37-38), Miss Teschmacher
deliberately kissed Superman's face while he was weakened. Why? Because
she was fearful that he would not allow her to do so voluntarily after
being freed and saved from drowning. Interestingly, the kissing scene
caused filmmaking problems for the ex-Playboy centrefold: "Despite
several rehearsals, it looked more like an X-rated loop than a quick
peck in a family film. (Dick [Donner, the director] kept screaming at
Perrine: "I want a short, simple, high-school kiss!")."34 One wonders if Christopher Reeve complained about the number
of retakes or not!

[28] Following
Miss Teschmacher's conversion, her relationship with Superman was very
different, as was the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene
following her spiritual conversion. Miss Teschmacher's turning from
evil to good was symbolised by the colour of her personal clothing.
They changed from black to grey to white, thus ensuring (and signalling)
a much better future for herself at the end of S1. Before Superman
left the underground lair, he gave her a warm (but not hot) look and
told her not to hang around the place any more (and by implication,
leave her Lex Luthor lifestyle behind). This scene faintly echoed Jesus'
advice to the woman taken in adultery, namely: "go, and sin no more"
(John 8:11). At films end, Superman delivered Luthor and Otis to prison,
but not Miss Teschmacher, whom he had apparently forgiven and left alone,
just like Jesus who forgave the sinner woman (Luke 7:47) and let her
"go in peace" (Luke 7:50) despite her unsavoury social crimes.

2.5 Miss Eve Teschmacher and Superman as Adam and Eve

[29] Miss
Teschmacher's first name was "Eve." "Eve is also the Bible name
of the first woman. Jesus is called the second Adam in the Bible."35 So, Adam (Superman) and Eve (Miss Teschmacher) who were tricked
by the serpent (Lex Luthor) briefly lived together in an earthly paradise
(Luthor's opulent lair) in this pop culture form of the Genesis myth.
Superman even acted disreputably like his Edenic counterpart. For example,
during S1, Superman disobeyed Jor-El's instructions not to interfere
with humanity, but he did so by reversing time to save the dead Lois
Lane (Margot Kidder). This behaviour echoed "another obedience myth,
the Book of Genesis, in which disobeying the command of a Father-God
because of a woman results in expulsion from Eden and the loss of immortality."36
These punishing events were prefigured in S1 when Luthor used
green Kryptonite to render Superman helpless. The further loss of Superman's
powers dramatically again occurred in S2 which tapped into another
biblical referent, albeit, from the Old Testament (OT) this time. By
"revealing himself to Lois Lane and subsequently going to bed with her,
he [Superman] is shorn of his powers much like the biblical Samson at
the hands of Delilah [Judg. 16:4-20]. He becomes human and vulnerable."37 Both Samson and Superman temporarily lost their God (Jor-El
as God-figure) preordained strength and earthly missions.

2.6 Otis, the Big, Bad, Bumbling Kid: Evil's Inept Side-Kick

[30]
The bumbling, inept and cheating Otis symbolised the stupidity of those
who would side with evil to challenge God. This characterisation helps
explain Craig Anderson's puzzlement, namely: "why a criminal genius
would use such a klutz as his henchman is unfathomable."38 Just as choosing the Devil over God is unfathomable to many
Christians. In S1, Otis was portrayed as being so ineffectual
that he was unable to steal from a blind man, while in S2, the
childishness of Otis is demonstrated during the prison escape episode.
When both Luthor and Otis are hit with a blinding prison search light,
Otis used that opportunity to play shadow games and mock Luthor! Otis'
two fingers behind Luthor's bald head can be interpreted as either Indian
feathers, bunny ears or devil horns. One wonders if Satan's henchmen
are just as incompetent and irreverent.

3.0 A Religious Potpourri: Other Significant
Biblical Associations

[31]
Both S1 and S2 are replete with significant biblical associations
that may not be directly linked to Jesus and his enemies, but they helped
uprate the sanctity of the two SF films by tapping into other religious
resonances.

3.1The Eye Symbol

[32]
Richard Combs argued that if S1 "has an overall image, it is
of an eye --like the huge dome on Krypton,"39
especially inside its justice building. This building was also internally
ringed with the watching faces and judging eyes of the high council
members as Jor-El summed up his case against the three prisoners. In
this context, the eye-shaped building with its many faces can be seen
as a biblical metaphor for the omniscience of God, especially his heavenly
watchfulness and divine judgment of the wicked (1 Pet. 3:12). Indeed,
the filmmakers had close-ups of the prisoner's eyes, as if inviting
the audience to use this proverbial window into their souls to make
their own judgments, and then conclude that they were not repentant
at all. Biblically speaking, eyes in this filmic context were metaphors
for the prisoners being without pity or mercy (Deut. 7:16, 13:8, 19:21),
and thus worthy of their guilty verdict and mandated fate of eternal
punishment in the Phantom Zone. Even Lex Luthor resorted to God-flavoured
eye references to get his exacerbated point across (see section 3.5).

[33]
This global eye imagery was repeated on Earth in the city of Metropolis
where the large globe upon the Daily Planet building was the
corporate trademark of Clark Kent's newspaper employer. Indeed, the
journalists inside it kept an ever-vigilant view upon world events as
the newspaper equivalent of private eyes. Its societal protective function
was also prefigured in the film's "June 1938" prologue when it was claimed
to be "a symbol of hope for the city of Metropolis." Metropolis being
the Everyman equivalent of America-cum-the world. In fact, this world-affirming
function was dramatically demonstrated in S2 when Lois flew by
Concord to Paris to report upon a terrorist event, and then when the
defeated U.S. President deliberately knelt before General Zod ostensively
"for the people of the world" (i.e., not just the USA). For Marie Jean
Lederman, the globe symbolised "the endurance of both Earth and Metropolis"40 even if this symbolism failed dramatically for Krypton itself.

3.2 The Sun Symbol

[34]
Just as pronounced as the eye symbolism is S1's sun symbolism.
Deep space Krypton was warmed by a red sun that became unstable, exploded
and then destroyed the planet in its powerful wake. The red sun also
took away the super-powers of Superman (and later, the evil Kryptonian
triumvirate) while on Earth in S2. Biblically speaking, the scorching
effect of the sun's rays is a metaphor for a curse that resulted when
mankind fell into sin (Isa. 49:10; Rev. 16:8). The Krypton high council
suffered from the sin of pride and scientific arrogance (coupled with
a fatal miscalculation), while Superman temporarily forsook his divinely
pre-ordained protector path for the sake of earthly love with Lois Lane
(after some intense personal suffering, it was subsequently corrected).
On the other hand, Earth's yellow sun gave Superman (and the evil Kryptonian
triumvirate) their super-powers. In this context, biblically speaking,
the sun was used as a symbol to describe strength (Judg. 5:31), and
in Superman's case, also endurance (Ps. 72:17, 89:36). Interestingly,
Superman's family crest and chest emblem was a red "S" logo on a yellow
background, thus symbolising his Krypton-Earth heritage. Like Jesus
himself, the signs were plainly there for all those who had eyes to
see.

3.3 The Bird Clash Incident

[35] While
Superman and Lois were flying together in S1, a white bird suddenly
crossed their path and startled them in mid-flight. This bird was dove-like
in appearance, if not an actual dove. This incident resonated with the
biblical account of God approving of his son's action via the medium
of a dove, most notably Jesus after his baptism (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10;
Luke 3:22).

3.4 The Symbolic Significance of Christopher Reeve's Name

[36] There
is an interesting correspondence between Christopher Reeve's Christian
name and his screen role as Superman. Entomologically speaking, his
first name "Christopher" is derived "from a Greek word meaning 'carrier
of Christ', used figuratively by the early Christians to indicate that
they bore Christ in their hearts."41Just like Reeve-the-actor who carried the Christ story on-screen
in the heart-felt guise of Superman-the-Christ-figure to a putatively
Christianised world. Even more intriguing, as S1 director Richard
Donner reported, someone asked: "'Where did you find Reeve?' And I said,
'I didn't find him, God gave him to us'."42 Divine truth, a brilliant PR advertising comment, or just coincidence?
One often wonders about divine synchronicity.

3.5 Other Uses of Biblical Rhetoric

[37] Lex
Luthor thematically mimicked Matthew 13:13 when he said to his clueless
assistants Otis and Miss Teschmacher: "Oh Lord! You gave them eyes but
they cannot see." This pseudo-biblical act tagged him as a false profit
imitating divine wisdom. Lex Luthor being the weaker earthly version
of the powerful, evil Kryptonian escapee, General Zod.

3.6
The Superman-Samson Linkages

[38] The
biblical muscle-man Samson (Judg. 13-16), who began delivering the chosen
people from evil oppression (Judg. 13:5), was viewed by some biblical
scholars as the ancient world equivalent of Superman.43 His comic book creator Jerry Siegel claimed that he conceived
of Superman as "a character like Samson, Hercules and all the strong
men I ever heard of rolled into one."44
This Samson-Superman link is so intimate that when Cecil B. DeMille's
Samson and Delilah was released, The Weekly Variety reviewer
claimed that: "Samson is the greatest invention since Superman,"45
and which also says something very profound and disturbing about the
public's knowledge of the Bible! Indeed, even DeMille himself had envisioned
his Samson (Victor Mature) as "Superman"46
in an act of sacred text-pop culture intertextuality.

3.7 The Superman-Moses-Jesus Linkages

[39] In
S1, cherubic Kal-El (Aaron Sholinski) journeyed inside his celestial
starship life-pod and flowed dangerously through the currents of space
towards the loving arms of earthly ("alien") foreigners. This was reminiscent
of the biblical river ride of the infant Moses in his slime-and-pitch
coated ark of bulrushes (i.e., his Hebrew life-pod) into the arms of
loving Egyptian ("alien") foreigners (Exod. 2:3-6). Indeed, this Old
Testament biblical association was intended by the filmmakers: "Aaron
was enchanting, coming out of the starship nude - as Dick finally decided - arms
outstretched and a big grin on his face. It was a poignant moment; the
intended allusion to Moses wasn't lost on any of us."47 So, Kal-El (if not Superman) was a Moses-figure as well as a
Christ-figure here. No wonder Tony Richards considered that within S1:
"Moses in the bulrushes, [and] the Christ story - are pulled into the
open."48

[40] Indeed,
the Superman-Moses-Jesus linkage has been commented upon frequently
within the critical literature. For example, Les Daniels49 had argued that Superman's comic book creator Jerry Siegel had
originally tapped into "a mythic theme of universal significance" to
create a "secular American messiah." He did this by fusing together
the most archetypical OT and NT stories claiming that: "Superman recalled
Moses, set adrift to become his people's savior, and also Jesus, sent
from above to redeem the world." Or as David Michael Petrou put it,
the films "draw heavily on familiar religious elements, most obviously
the discovery of the baby Kal-El, much like that of Moses, and the almost
mystical bond between him and his father, Jor-El."50

[41]
To reinforce Kal-El's divine associations even further, Perry White
(Jackie Cooper), the newspaper boss of the Daily Planet argued
that getting the Superman scoop would be "the single most important
interview since God talked to Moses!" This Mosaic reference occurred
again in the audio-visual form of lightning and thunder surrounding
the construction of the Fortress of Solitude, and where the adolescent
Clark Kent (Jeff East) received Jor-El's laws to live by while on Earth.
These dramatic Superman events resonated with God's rumblings and pyrotechnic
displays on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19:16) prior to Moses getting his interview
with God and receiving the ten commandments (Exod. 20), God's laws for
humans to live by while on Earth. So, Clark Kent (if not Superman) was
also a Moses-figure here.

3.8 Mythic Unity

[42]
S1 consisted of a series of uneven story zones (i.e., 1938 prologue,
1948 Krypton, 1960s Mid-West, 1970s Metropolis) with each segment of
the film having "its own mythic unity."51
In S2, some of it was pure repetition of S1 incidents,
others were revisited expansions of S1 incidents, and the remainder
of the S2 narrative advanced the S1 storyline into new
territory. In many ways, this was just like the New Testament whose
narrative segments also had their own interlocking mythic unity (e.g.,
the Gospels). Likewise, the NT repeated OT words and expanded OT incidents
before moving off into new holy territory.

[43]
Like all good myths (sacred and secular), it had a serious inner core.
For example, Peter Tonguette considered S2 was "the only superhero
film ever to grapple meaningfully with the notion of moral responsibility
entailed by possessing the powers to prevent disasters and save the
lives of millions."52No doubt, Jesus grappled with the same issues, especially at
the Mount of Olives when he sweated blood-like drops while seriously
cogitating about his own holy mission (Luke 22:39-44). Overall, the
correspondences between the two films and the Bible have not always
been exactly identical, but nonetheless, they are fruitful areas still
worthy of serious contemplation today.

Conclusion

[44] The
unholy figurations, the evil subtexts, and the other biblical associations
complemented Superman-as-a-Christ-figure and his holy family (whether
biological, extended, oppositional or metaphoric). It is concluded that
S1 and S2 are profoundly religious and a pop culture site
par excellence for contemporary theological discourse. It certainly
makes film appreciation, Scripture Study and the hunt for sacred subtexts
even more exciting than ever before. If secular films with religious
cores can lead viewers, students and non-believers alike to critically
examine (or re-examine) the Bible, then this is a positive pedagogic
result than should be coveted by religion teachers everywhere. This
pop culture, visual piety tactic only needs to be officially valued,
utilised and cherished like the rest of the religious scholars' critical
tools before it can come fully into its own methodological power.

[45] Although
not the same as formal Scripture Study, studying Superman and other
alien Christ-figures within the popular cinema53
can turn dull and boring Religious Education classes into something
truly exciting. And hopefully homework eagerly sought after by students,
teachers and parents alike! This experimental aesthetic aide to religious
contemplation does not replace the divine word, rather, it supplements
Holy Writ with religious discourse through an audio-visual pathway that
is both safe and overtly nonsectarian.54
The new postmodern eyes and ears that one has begun to develop herein
can only get better and better with repeated practise. Further research
into this exciting interdisciplinary field is a joy to conduct, a pedagogic
need answered, and a long overdue demonstration of applied cinema in
the pop culture mode, and especially pertinent in this undeniable "Age
of Hollywood."55 May the pedagogic adventure continue.